Analytical sensors are useful in chemistry and medicine to determine the presence and concentration of a biological analyte. Such sensors are needed, for example, to monitor glucose in diabetic patients and lactate during critical care events.
Currently available technology measures bioanalytes in relatively large sample volumes, e.g., generally requiring 3 microliters or more of blood or other biological fluid. These fluid samples are obtained from a patient, for example, using a needle and syringe, or by lancing a portion of the skin such as the fingertip and "milking" the area to obtain a useful sample volume. These procedures are inconvenient for the patient, and often painful, particularly when frequent samples are required. Less painful methods for obtaining a sample are known such as lancing the arm or thigh, which have a lower nerve ending density. However, lancing the body in the preferred regions typically produces submicroliter samples of blood, because these regions are not heavily supplied with near-surface capillary vessels.
It would therefore be desirable and very useful to develop a relatively painless, easy to use blood analyte sensor, capable of performing an accurate and sensitive analysis of the concentration of analytes in a small volume of sample.
Sensors capable of electrochemically measuring an analyte in a sample are known in the art. Some sensors known in the art use at least two electrodes and may contain a redox mediator to aid in the electrochemical reaction. However, the use of an electrochemical sensor for measuring analyte in a small volume introduces error into the measurements. One type of inaccuracy arises from the use of a diffusible redox mediator. Because the electrodes are so close together in a small volume sensor, diffusible redox mediator may shuttle between the working and counter electrode and add to the signal measured for analyte. Another source of inaccuracy in a small volume sensor is the difficulty in determining the volume of the small sample or in determining whether the sample chamber is filled. It would therefore be desirable to develop a small volume electrochemical sensor capable of decreasing the errors that arise from the size of the sensor and the sample.